Tame WDW rides for anxious child?

[sponica]

I have an anxious kiddo....at age 5.5 she was able to do rides she was terrified of at 20 months.
First time on dumbo, literally tried to climb out of the elephant. At age 5.5 she loved dumbo.
MK- Carousel, Dumbo, Peter Pan, the peoplemover, it's a small world.
Epcot- living with the land, living seas with nemo and friends, frozen ever after
DHS- literally the only thing she really enjoyed was alien sliding saucers....she hated MMRR
AK- safari

I know people recommend watching youtube videos, my kiddo has seen them all and the actual experience riding them was so completely different, I didn't think she would be bawling her eyes out on MMRR, but she was.

 

[Skippyboo]

Dumbo has that photo op elephant in between the two Dumbo rides. You can have him sit in it beforehand. Then have him watch the ride in action. If he does well w Dumbo then you have the carpets in Adventureland, Triceratops spin in AK which are basically the same ride.

 

[superchime]

Could you start with rides he can see first? Carousel, Dumbo, teacups, maybe even Barnstormer. That way he knows what he's getting into. Also definitely check out some of the shows because it's easier to bail out if things start to go sideways. The Frozen singalong is a lot of fun.

And, I know you didn't ask about character interactions but just in case this is an issue for you too, my anxious son preferred character meals to the regular character meetings. He sat at the back of the table and would say hi if he was feeling like it, otherwise we'd just wave and the character would move on. Much less pressure. We liked Garden Grill because it was way more chill compared to Chef Mickeys or Hollywood and Vine.

 

[Raine81]

Also consider that other riders may make him feel anxious, we didn't have a child when we went but the dad sitting in front of us on the Frozen ride made like the drop was going to be huge and really freaked his daughter out. He had me convinced it was going to be bigger than I thought. Sound headphones are definitely a good idea since it's pretty loud. I could see it being way overstimulating, between the sounds, lights and movement.

I like 4K WDW for ride through videos. They don't talk, just ride the ride so you could watch together and talk about what's happening. You could even adjust the video speed to slow it down so they can really take it in. I believe they have a video of every ride and the parades.

Thank you for the video suggestions I will check it out!

 

[Raine81]

I have an anxious kiddo....at age 5.5 she was able to do rides she was terrified of at 20 months.
First time on dumbo, literally tried to climb out of the elephant. At age 5.5 she loved dumbo.
MK- Carousel, Dumbo, Peter Pan, the peoplemover, it's a small world.
Epcot- living with the land, living seas with nemo and friends, frozen ever after
DHS- literally the only thing she really enjoyed was alien sliding saucers....she hated MMRR
AK- safari

I know people recommend watching youtube videos, my kiddo has seen them all and the actual experience riding them was so completely different, I didn't think she would be bawling her eyes out on MMRR, but she was.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with me!

 

[Raine81]

Could you start with rides he can see first? Carousel, Dumbo, teacups, maybe even Barnstormer. That way he knows what he's getting into. Also definitely check out some of the shows because it's easier to bail out if things start to go sideways. The Frozen singalong is a lot of fun.

And, I know you didn't ask about character interactions but just in case this is an issue for you too, my anxious son preferred character meals to the regular character meetings. He sat at the back of the table and would say hi if he was feeling like it, otherwise we'd just wave and the character would move on. Much less pressure. We liked Garden Grill because it was way more chill compared to Chef Mickeys or Hollywood and Vine.

Yes, I think we will have to start with rides he can see first, I don’t think there is currently any chance we would be able to get him to try a ride he can’t see.

Thanks for the tips about character interactions! It was something I hadn’t put much thought into yet

 

[AleaDaisy]

I just want to say thanks for all these recommendations! My almost 5 year old daughter has ASD and we've been prepping for our May trip. Even though she's pretty chill in crowds and with loud situations most times (and is REALLY looking forward to this trip!), I suspect Disney will be on a different level so definitely packing her headphones. I never even thought that the parade might have loud noises so I'll make sure to preview that for her. Raine -- thanks for asking and thanks for everyone's answers!

 

[Raine81]

My sensitive daughter like the People Mover (or TTA) best. It does get dark when it goes through Space Mountain but she is fine with that if cuddled. What was surprising to me is she didn't like under the sea (afraid of Ursula) and she didn't like Small World (the very unrealistic volcano that I had never noticed before scared her...)

Thanks for sharing your experiences with your daughter. This entire thread I started has been filled with great recommendations and hearing other people’s experiences is also really helpful.

 

[Raine81]

I just want to say thanks for all these recommendations! My almost 5 year old daughter has ASD and we've been prepping for our May trip. Even though she's pretty chill in crowds and with loud situations most times (and is REALLY looking forward to this trip!), I suspect Disney will be on a different level so definitely packing her headphones. I never even thought that the parade might have loud noises so I'll make sure to preview that for her. Raine -- thanks for asking and thanks for everyone's answers!

Yes, I agree thanks to everyone for all your recommendations/answers, it is much appreciated. I didn’t expect this thread to get as many responses as it has!
I also agree AleaDaisy that Disney will be a whole new level and will be bringing his headphones too!

 

[Raine81]

How do you think he will be with the character meet and greet? That might be a way to ease him in , visit Mickey at MK.

I am not sure! I mean he loves Santa and will happily sit on his lap for pictures… but one year for his 3rd Birthday we hired Marshall (Paw Patrol) to come to his family BD party. Marshall was only at the party for 30 minutes, and it took almost the entire time for him to warm up to him. So it has been a few years since there have been any characters around for him to meet and he is older now so hoping the character meet and greets will be okay by the time we get to DW!

 

[Rory607]

Also wanted to add that if you go on some rides and he does get scared, you’ll probably be able to identify what kinds of rides he likes going forward. My kid hates drops, but is fine with dark. He loves Peoplemover, which is one of the tamest rides in the park. But for a kid who hates the dark, it is probably a no-go.

 

[Skippyboo]

I am not sure! I mean he loves Santa and will happily sit on his lap for pictures… but one year for his 3rd Birthday we hired Marshall (Paw Patrol) to come to his family BD party. Marshall was only at the party for 30 minutes, and it took almost the entire time for him to warm up to him. So it has been a few years since there have been any characters around for him to meet and he is older now so hoping the character meet and greets will be okay by the time we get to DW!

Epcot most of the characters are outside so that may make it easier instead of going into a building.

 

[PHXscuba]

I would also consider starting with outdoor rides where he can see exactly what the ride does -- i.e. Dumbo instead of it's a small world. On my older daughter's first trip she didn't like the dark queues for the dark rides and then the rides themselves because she had already worked herself up.

My younger daughter was scared of furry characters as a young child and on her first Disneyland trip (at almost 5) the only character she would stand with was mInnie Mouse with her older sister.

PHXscuba

 

[tinkerjo]

There are a lot of great ideas on here! I like the idea of watching videos on YouTube first and also trying the outside rides first so there are no surprises. Our first trip in 1999, we didn’t have any idea and took DD6 on Alien encounter as our first ride (first thing we came to in Tomorrowland) BIG mistake. Took us a while to get her on anything else. Please also invest in the headphones, even if you don’t think you need them. During our trip a couple weeks ago there was an older boy with Autism having a real difficult time with noises and the parent seemed to just ignore him. I felt so bad for him. Even my DH who is usually ignorant about these things, asked why they wouldn’t have headphones for him.

 

[Rory607]

There are a lot of great ideas on here! I like the idea of watching videos on YouTube first and also trying the outside rides first so there are no surprises. Our first trip in 1999, we didn’t have any idea and took DD6 on Alien encounter as our first ride (first thing we came to in Tomorrowland) BIG mistake. Took us a while to get her on anything else. Please also invest in the headphones, even if you don’t think you need them. During our trip a couple weeks ago there was an older boy with Autism having a real difficult time with noises and the parent seemed to just ignore him. I felt so bad for him. Even my DH who is usually ignorant about these things, asked why they wouldn’t have headphones for him.

Who knows the situation, maybe they forgot headphones or something. If they were truly just ignoring the situation that is sad My youngest is not on the spectrum, but is sensitive to noise. I was also as a kid and it honestly miserable. We were at a sporting event when he was a toddler and he was very upset by the noise. Someone sitting behind us offered a pair of headphones and it was life changing! We don’t travel without them anymore.

 

[Raine81]

There are a lot of great ideas on here! I like the idea of watching videos on YouTube first and also trying the outside rides first so there are no surprises. Our first trip in 1999, we didn’t have any idea and took DD6 on Alien encounter as our first ride (first thing we came to in Tomorrowland) BIG mistake. Took us a while to get her on anything else. Please also invest in the headphones, even if you don’t think you need them. During our trip a couple weeks ago there was an older boy with Autism having a real difficult time with noises and the parent seemed to just ignore him. I felt so bad for him. Even my DH who is usually ignorant about these things, asked why they wouldn’t have headphones for him.

Yes, we will 100% be bringing his headphones with us!

 

[tinkerjo]

Who knows the situation, maybe they forgot headphones or something. If they were truly just ignoring the situation that is sad My youngest is not on the spectrum, but is sensitive to noise. I was also as a kid and it honestly miserable. We were at a sporting event when he was a toddler and he was very upset by the noise. Someone sitting behind us offered a pair of headphones and it was life changing! We don’t travel without them anymore.

Ignore might not have been the best word I could have used. The parents were dealing with a stroller at the bus stop (@HS) and just seemed oblivious to the older one who was really bothered by the noises the buses made. No judgement here, I just felt bad for him and if I would have had headphones I would have offered some.

 

[AussieNSW]

Be careful of Mickey and Minnie’s railway. When you are in the room there is a scene with goofy that involves an unexpected bang. It terrified my grandson and that was it for the whole ride.

 

[NotUrsula]

Some kids (and in particular, those on the spectrum, who think very logically) may be seriously terrified of characters. My DS, who is high-functioning as a general rule, absolutely refused to have anything to do with characters. He was used to seeing them on TV, but the size of them IRL and the strange dimensions of them, with their outsize heads, told him that there was something very off about them, and he wanted nothing to do with them. We made the mistake of taking him to a character meal at age 2, and he spent the entire time cowering under the table. By 6 he wasn't hiding under tables anymore, but he felt a need to defend himself any time a character came within 10 feet of him; he would start yelling things like, "Go away, monster!!" at the top of his lungs. At the old Ice Cream Social at the Living World he had to make a choice between defending his ice cream and his fear of Mickey Mouse; he chose the ice cream and tried to stab Mickey with a fork. (Luckily Mickey's gloves are well-padded! It's a funny incident looking back on it, but at the time it was exhausting always going out of our way to dodge characters.) DS is an adult now, and he now will respond to character's high-fives, but always accompanies the gesture with a sympathetic comment about how difficult the job must be. It's as if he still has to remind himself that it's only a person in a costume.

As a small child, DS' absolute favorite ride was Spaceship Earth. He loved it then and still is very fond of it. Nice and slow, can sit between your parents, and nothing scary at all. It's like school, but much cooler. (Do warn him that the smoke smell is fake; that there is no real fire.)

For kids who are afraid of the dark, a small red-beam flashlight on a lanyard can be a very good reassurance item. They can shine it down if they get scared, and the red light will not be as distracting to others as another color would be. Make it a point to insist that when used, it must always be pointed downward. (Give it to him ahead of time, so that the novelty wears off before the trip, or he'll probably constantly be fidgeting with it.)

PS: Note that I don't mean a laser pointer (which can blind other people), I'm referring to an ordinary-style flashlight with a red beam, similar to this one: https://www.amazon.com/Carson-Flashlight-Preserving-Brightness-SL-33/dp/B01MY4WIW9/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1VI60115BFLLF&keywords=carson+red+sight+pro&qid=1675448452&sprefix=carson+red+sight+pro,aps,124&sr=8-2&th=1

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

I myself have autism as well so I understand. The people mover is a favorite for my whole family. I also recommend the headphones